The present invention is generally related to a garbage disposal sanitizer and, more particularly, is related to a method for preparing garbage disposal sanitizers in an effervescent tablet formulation.
All garbage disposals found in private residences and public facilities are contaminated by various organic materials that contain or support the growth of various pathogens and odor-causing organisms. Cleaning and normal rinsing alone is not sufficient to kill or inhibit the growth of these organisms and use of disinfectants is necessary.
A disinfectant is a substance that destroys or irreversibly inactivates infectious or other undesirable bacteria, pathogenic fungi, and viruses or surfaces or inanimate objects. Disinfectants kill the growing forms but not necessarily the resistant spore forms of microorganisms. Sterilizers, on the other hand, destroy the growing and spore forms of viruses, bacteria, and fungi on inanimate surfaces. Sanitizers are used to reduce the number of living bacteria or viable virus particles on inanimate surfaces, in water, or in air, and fungicides and fungistats are used to inhibit the growth of or destroy fungi on inanimate surfaces.
It has become common practice to use glutaraldehyde solutions as surface disinfectants or sterilants. However, while glutaraldehyde solutions are an effective disinfectant, there are many drawbacks to the use of glutaraldehyde, including safety concerns, problems with storing the large volumes of solutions required, and the limited shelf stability of solutions. In addition, if the glutaraldehyde solution is prepared by dilution of a concentrated solution there is the inconvenience of measuring and pouring the liquid concentrate.
The use of disinfectant or sterilant concentrates in a powdered form has been taught in the prior art; for example, in U.S Pat. No. 5,350,563 to Kralovic et al. The problem with the use of powders as disinfectant concentrates is that they also must be measured in order to prepare the diluted solution and must be poured from one container to another. In addition, there are sometimes problems with forcing the powder into solution.
Concentrated liquid cleaners have been found to be highly desirable by certain consumers. Important considerations in the selection of a cleaning composition include ease of handling, cleaning ability and stability of the product during storage.
One advantage of liquid cleaners is the ease of handling because liquids can be automatically pumped or dispensed directly to their final use application. Liquid cleaners can also be made into a highly concentrated intermediate aqueous solution which is subsequently flushed/diluted to its proper final use application solution. Liquid cleaners are generally more rapidly soluble than powder or granule cleaners with the same or comparable active ingredients. Liquid cleaners can use higher levels of some surfactants that would cause powders or granules to cake if used at similar levels.
Almost all liquid cleaners have the disadvantage that they are diluted with water, so larger volumes and weights have to be shipped, stored, and used to accomplish cleaning equivalent to a highly concentrated powder or granules. Also, liquid cleaners cannot tolerate high concentrations of organic surfactants with dissolved inorganic builders and sequestering agents with all the ingredients remaining homogenous throughout their shipping and storage. Many liquid cleaners utilize high concentrations of corrosive chemicals which easily spill or splatter on users causing chemical burns, inhalation bums, blindness or discomfort. Liquids can be corrosive to their dispensing equipment by virtue of the caustic alkali being incompatible with pump parts or delivery tubing. Additionally, the ingredients within liquids interact because the ingredient molecules are mobile. These interactions can precipitate or irreversibly inactivate some of the active ingredients upon storage. Furthermore, liquids, for the most part, do not allow a stable, homogeneous solution of surfactants, builders, sequestrants and oxygen bleach sources in a compatible stable product with long term storage stability.
One advantage of powder and granular cleaners is the high concentrations of active ingredients because few or no inert ingredients are required. In powder or granule cleaners, high levels of inorganic or organic salts can be used to raise alkalinity and soften water by chelating or sequestering water hardness ions. The powdered or granule cleaners can be used to provide oxidizing agents (bleaches) or reducing agents and granular enzyme materials that can be blended into free flowing powder or granule cleaners. The oxidizing or reducing agents and the enzymes are stable in the powdered or granulated cleaners with no significant loss of activity on extended storage. However, oxidizing agents mixed with caustic agents can prematurely decompose. This occurs because some caustic agents, specifically alkali metal hydroxides, are hygroscopic and the highly alkaline solution formed on the surface of the caustic agents reacts with the oxidizing agents.
A significant disadvantage of powder or granular cleaners for commercial applications is that they are not as accurately controllable in dispensing equipment as liquids. Powder or granular systems can require manually scooping a quantity of powder or granules for each use, thus not taking advantage of the ease, accuracy and hands-off labor savings of liquid dispensers. Also, powders and granules can cake if exposed to high humidity or temperatures. Once they become caked, they cannot be subsequently removed from their shipping container. Powders and granules can lose some of their activity if moistened or exposed to high humidity. Non-homogeneous powders and granules can segregate in their shipping containers, that is, separate or stratify by particle size or density resulting in a non-uniform mixture that may not be appropriate for ultimate use applications. Furthermore, powders and granules can create a safety hazard in that granules or airborne dust particles of irritating or corrosive materials can exit their container or otherwise come in direct contact with tissue, including lung tissue, causing bums or discomfort.
Other patents, for example, those of Hunt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,847 (the ""847 patent), and White et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,389, teach effervescent tablets useful for preparing solutions for sterilizing or disinfecting. Such compositions are rapid water soluble tablets typically comprising an active chemical compound, an alkali metal bicarbonate, e.g. sodium or potassium bicarbonate, and a solid aliphatic carboxylic acid such as citric acid, tartaric acid, adipic acid, or an acid salt thereof. In use, such tablets are dissolved in water whereupon the interaction of the bicarbonate and acid components results in the release of carbon dioxide, thus increasing the rate of solution of the other components and producing a solution in which the active (disinfecting) ingredient is homogenously dissolved. Methods for forming effervescent tablets are well known in the art. For example, see the ""847 patent and U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,647 to Levesque et al., which disclosures are incorporated herein in their entireties, by reference.
Halogen compounds are effective as disinfecting agents but their use as such agents is limited due to difficulties in storage, mixing, and handling of concentrated halogens and instability of dilute forms. The use of sodium dichloroisocyanurate as a disinfecting agent is known in the prior art. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,389, to White et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,642, to Levesque et al. Sodium dichloroisocyanurate hydrolyzes in water to produce hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypochlorite (OClxe2x88x92), which exist in solution at an equilibrium that is dependent upon the pH of the solution. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, at neutral pH a solution consists of about 75% hypochlorous acid and 25% hypochlorite. The prior art also teaches the use of bromide as a disinfectant, the hypobromous acid and hypobromite species being produced in solution typically by the use of bromo, chloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin. The hypohalous acid species is the antimicrobial form of the above compounds, with the hypohalite having some antimicrobial effect. However, the negative charge of the hypohalite inhibits its diffusion through the cell wall of microorganisms and thus lowers its antimicrobial effect.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,710 to Kuenn et al. (the ""710 Patent), teaches a disposal cleaner containing a surfactant, an alkali carbonate and an acid. The preferred form of the composition of the ""710 patent contains 37.5% adipic acid, 37.5% sodium bicarbonate and 25% of a mixture of sodium lauryl sulfate and alfa-olefin sulfonate. The ""710 patent is preferably a powder packed in a moisture-resistant foil laminate pouch which consists of a paper laminated to plastic or synthetic materials. Preferably the dry powder composition would be packaged into a water soluble, biodegradable disposable film, which in turn would be wrapped with a foil pouch to prevent moisture damage. The problems associated with using a powder form of a cleaner discussed previously render the ""710 patent inconvenient to use.
Accordingly, there is a need for an effective sanitizing agent for cleaning garbage disposals that is packaged and supplied in a convenient effervescent tablet form. The effervescent tablet must generate hypohalous acid and must fully and rapidly dissolve to form a homogeneous disinfecting solution which is highly active and stable for a useful length of time, as well as produce a sizeable amount of effervescent foam in the garbage disposal. It has been heretofore unknown in art how to produce an effective garbage disposal sanitizer in tablet form that requires running the disposal for only one to two seconds to activate and disperse the sanitizer.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.
The present invention is an effervescent tablet composition for use in sanitizing garbage disposals which includes a hypochlorite generator and an effervescent system. Further, the tablet composition may include surfactant, binder, fiber carrier, lubricant, and fragrance.
The present invention can also be used as a method for sanitizing garbage disposal units. In this regard, the method can be broadly summarized by the following steps: mixing starting materials, forming an effervescent tablet from the starting materials, packaging the tablet in a moisture-resistant pouch, placing the tablet in a garbage disposal unit, running warm tap water at a trickle, turning on the garbage disposal for about twenty seconds, turning off the tap water and the garbage disposal, thereby allowing the effervescent tablet to foam into the sink, allowing the foam to stand for about five minutes, thereby sanitizing the garbage disposal, and rinsing away any residue of the tablet with generous amounts of water.